WEBVTT - The Catch-Up - 1 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:16.200 This is the case of Marion Barter, a mother teacher 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:20.880 friend missing for twenty five years. 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:24.720 You know, I know something that she was going to vanish, 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:25.480 that's for sure. 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:30.040 The bizarre circumstances surrounding her disappearance. 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:32.240 I'm not sure if it was intentional or there's something 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:34.120 more foul afoot. 0:00:34.360 --> 0:00:37.080 If you could imagine a teacher coming straight from say 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:39.400 little house on the prairie to the eighties, that was 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:40.080 Marian Barter. 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:45.760 What I say, whether you find Marian Barter dead or alive, 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:50.559 I honestly believe somebody has that key piece of information. 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.760 And the relentless quest of a daughter to find her mum. 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:59.440 Something had happened, Something has happened to make her leave. 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:03.880 I am one hundred percent sure, one hundred percent sure 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:13.240 that somebody knows something. This is The Lady Vanishers the 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:23.360 catch Up series, Episode one. Hi, I'm Alison Sandy. 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:24.560 And I'm Brian Seymour. 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:29.920 We're only weeks away from November thirty, the date when 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:33.920 New South Wales State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan is due to 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:38.040 hand down her findings into the disappearance of Marian Barter. 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:44.319 We began this podcast on April one, twenty nineteen, with 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.840 the aim of sharing Marian's story and the hope of 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.840 trying to help her daughter Sally, find some sort of answers. 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:56.160 Back then, we had no idea what lay ahead, what 0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:00.160 we discover, or just how many people from all all 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:02.800 around the world would support Sally's quest. 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.760 Would you believe? We'd originally slated only about eight episodes, 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:13.480 now forty plus episodes on Here we Are. We're aware 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:16.320 that forty episodes is a lot to binge. You'd need 0:02:16.360 --> 0:02:18.359 to set aside a full working week to do it. 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:21.640 So for our faithful long time followers who like a 0:02:21.680 --> 0:02:24.600 refresher and for newer listeners who want to get their 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:28.720 head around this extraordinary story, the next few episodes offer 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.280 a condensed version of the events that shaped our podcast 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:36.560 since twenty nineteen. There will be segments of the original 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:40.359 episodes as well as new commentary, but we'll be eliminating 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:43.880 the red herrings and focusing on the clues and information 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:48.600 that were key to bringing us to where we are today. Obviously, 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.280 even though these are compilation episodes, there is still a 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:57.040 lot of information to get through, so they'll be pretty lengthy. Now, 0:02:57.440 --> 0:03:01.760 sit back, as we rewind to the beginning of the 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:05.919 Lady Vanishes. 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:15.360 Episode one introduced us to Marian Barter through the eyes 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:18.639 of her daughter, Sally Layden, who at that stage had 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.440 spent the best part of twenty two years wondering why 0:03:22.520 --> 0:03:26.240 her mother had disappeared after taking off on an overseas 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:33.040 trip in nineteen ninety seven. She had mixed emotions. Was 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:37.560 her mother really missing? Why didn't authorities take the case seriously. 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:49.960 At the time of her disappearance, Marion Barter was fifty 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:53.840 one years old. She was average height, slim, with dark, 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:58.520 wavy shoulder leaked hair, fair skin, and hazel eyes. She 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.640 was very feminine and some a little eccentric. Marian loved 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.520 floral's and was quite particular about the way she dressed. 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:12.040 Her home was furnished with antiques and expensive artworks. In photos, 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:15.800 you notice her smile is very thin, almost reminiscent of 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:18.200 the Mona Lisa, and that she seems to be communicating 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.560 something or she could be simply thinking of nothing. She 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.360 did like to be loved and to be in love. 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:29.160 She was married and divorced three times, and hence was 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:33.240 at various times known by four different names. Marian Wilson 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:37.200 was her maiden name. Her first marriage was to Australian 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:38.840 soccer star Johnny. 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:41.960 Warren attack through Johnny Warren number ten. 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:45.279 Coming up to be. Her third marriage was to Ray 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:50.200 Barter in between husband Stuart Brown. He was the father 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:54.360 of her two children, Sally and Owen. They were twenty 0:04:54.360 --> 0:04:57.120 four and twenty three years old when their mum vanished. 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:04.520 Certainly is now forty five a married mother of three. 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:07.479 And how close were you with your mother? 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.600 I know it's an odd question, but some people aren't 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:11.120 close with their father or mother. 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.320 How close were you with Sharon? 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.760 I think I would say we had a pretty normal, 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:21.640 normal relationship. I think if you asked me to compare 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:25.080 my relationship with my children, I'm closer to my children 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:29.120 than my mum was to me. But I also have 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:33.920 reflected on that as a child and think that I 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:35.880 wanted my life to be different with my kids. I 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.720 wanted to be a different parent. I wanted to go 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:41.360 and watch them at their football games, and watch them 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.760 do their gymnastics and be there for them every step 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.839 of the way. So I've actually probably go the opposite 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:52.839 end of the tunnel where I'm probably too too motherly. 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:56.960 Big boys, that was. 0:05:58.440 --> 0:05:58.920 A bear. 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:03.640 That was Marian was also a teacher, a highly regarded one. 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.599 She trained at Balmain Teachers College in Sydney and was 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:10.520 named Queensland's Teacher of Excellence in nineteen ninety six. Teaching 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:12.760 was her passion, loved. 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.680 It and anyone that you talk to will tell you that, 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:19.880 you know, what a great teacher she was. Somewhat to 0:06:20.120 --> 0:06:22.400 Owen and my detriment, I think because she was so 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:26.600 involved in teaching that she was more about her students 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:29.080 than she was about us sometimes, which I think is 0:06:29.440 --> 0:06:32.120 pretty standard for a teacher who loves their job, I 0:06:32.120 --> 0:06:35.919 think from what I've seen over the years. But she 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:40.680 was very well loved. She's godmother to hundreds of children, 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:42.599 and you know, growing up in primary school. 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:44.599 She was a teacher at our where I went to. 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:47.240 Primary school as well, and quite often if we weren't 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.640 staying back till five o'clock getting ready for the next 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:53.960 day in the classroom, we were invited to somebody's house 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:58.039 for afternoon tea and hanging out with people. And I 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.920 reconnected with all of those people on faith Book since 0:07:00.920 --> 0:07:04.039 they found out about mum, because it's actually been quite 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.719 earth shattering for a lot of people to even consider 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:08.640 that that would be something that would happen to her, 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:11.320 and everyone has something really nice to say. I remember 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:15.480 one boy once when I first started a Facebook page 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.960 about mum being missing, and he came on and he 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:21.720 said Missus Brown, who she was known in primary school. 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:23.680 He's the same age as me, so we were in 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:25.560 the same year together through primary school. And he said, 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:27.560 she's the only person who's ever got me into a 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:31.080 two two and because mum was very big on doing 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:33.440 theater productions and things like that. 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:34.440 In the school. 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:37.240 And I think we're in the Nutcracker or something, and 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:38.680 he had to wear a two two. 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:42.080 And he's now about six foot tall and big, big guy. 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:47.280 And yeah, so she had a lot of a lot 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.560 of influence on a lot of people. Another girlfriend of 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:51.560 mine who's the same year as me as well at primary, 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.840 she's now in theater, and she actually posted something on 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.880 the page and said, I always remember my parents telling 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:02.240 me that year three was just a gap year for 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:04.720 me because I was doing too much theater and too 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:08.120 much drama with Missus Brown. But hence I am now 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.480 in theater, and my whole motivation and my whole reason 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.520 I'm in this career is based on my experiences with 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:17.960 her from grade three, so she has touched a lot 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:22.320 of people and it's a very sad, very sad situation. 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.480 In nineteen ninety seven, Marian was teaching four and five 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.640 year old boys at TSS, the Southport School, an exclusive 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:35.280 all boys school on the Gold Coast. She said earlier 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:38.160 that that sometimes felt like your mother spent more time 0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.320 and cared more about the boys she was raising in 0:08:40.320 --> 0:08:42.240 the school, and she did for their own children. 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:44.959 Yeah, everyone loved her. Everyone wanted a piece of her. 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.320 So she was always if we weren't at someone's house, 0:08:47.360 --> 0:08:49.520 as I said, for afternoon tea, she was staying back 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:52.800 at class doing something for the kids for the next day. 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.880 Or she had us in the holidays painting Beatrix Potter 0:08:56.080 --> 0:08:59.319 pictures of you know, missus Tiggywinkle on the windows, because 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:01.679 that was the theme she was doing that that term. 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.600 But she was all about school and all about the 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:08.000 people at school and not always about oh and I 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.360 as such. But didn't mean she was a bad parent, 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:14.880 She just had a different way of parenting us. 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.160 Marian abruptly resigned in the middle of the school year, 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:23.480 an unusual move for a teacher is dedicated as herself. 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.640 Sixteen June nineteen ninety seven. Dear Sir Madam, I wish 0:09:28.720 --> 0:09:32.320 to inform you of my resignation from the Southport School 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:36.000 on Friday twentieth of June nineteen ninety seven. I'll be 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.480 traveling overseas for an indefinite period and hopefully teaching in 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:42.880 England and Europe. I'd like to renew my registration for 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:46.160 nineteen ninety eight in advance and advise you of my 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:51.079 forwarding address for future renewal should I need to do so. Yours, sincerely, 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:52.040 Marian Barter. 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:56.000 Something wasn't right. 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:00.960 She'd just won their Teacher Award of Excellence for Queensland, 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:02.760 so she was voted the best teacher in Queensland in 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.520 nineteen ninety six, and it seemed that there was a 0:10:06.559 --> 0:10:09.520 little bit of a tall Poppy syndrome going on with 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.679 the new teachers that had come in, where they were 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.360 trying to knock her down a peg, is my take 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:16.600 on it, from what she had told me. So I'd 0:10:16.679 --> 0:10:18.520 be over there for dinner and she'd be in tears 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:22.000 telling me that these people had said horrible things about her, 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:24.280 and she was not in a very happy place. 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:27.120 What happened to you, mother, Sally. 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.920 Briefly after the incident where I saw her at her 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:31.760 home and she was in tears and had told me 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:36.320 that information. She told me that she decided that she 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.160 was going to go on a holiday for a year 0:10:39.160 --> 0:10:40.960 and wanted to go to the UK. She'd always wanted 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:43.600 to go on the Orient Express was one of her 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:44.959 bucket lists. 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:48.400 And I was all for it. I was like, you 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:49.240 know what, go for it. 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:52.800 You single, You've got no ties here, you know, do 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:55.719 whatever you need to do. And so she said, look, 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:57.280 you know, I'm going to sell the house because the 0:10:57.280 --> 0:10:59.520 house is a three bedroom home, it's got swimming pool 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.040 and no one's whim in. I'll sell the house when 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:04.840 I come back. I'll just buy a unit at Main Beach. 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:07.160 And so she then ended up giving us a little 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:09.959 bit of her furniture. She had a lot of antiques. 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:11.480 She said, I'll give that to you. 0:11:11.400 --> 0:11:12.880 Now so that you can have. 0:11:12.920 --> 0:11:14.520 It's going to be yours anyway one day, so you 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:15.959 may as well have it now because when I get back, 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:18.160 I'm going to downsize. And she put the rest of 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:20.960 her things into storage and she quite openly said to me, 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:23.240 if i'd get a job over there, She's very interested 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:26.120 in the Steiner School program, and she had a lot 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:29.160 of passion for being a bit eccentric, I guess in 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:31.280 your teaching style. So if you were reading she was 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:33.600 reading a book about going to the beach, she'd take 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:35.280 the boys out of class and they'd walk down to 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:37.040 the water's edge and play in the sand. 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:38.600 And she was that kind of teacher. 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:41.960 So she was very interested in Steiner and had openly 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:44.160 said to me, if I don't come back and get 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.280 a job over there, you can just send my things 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:48.760 over for me. And we were very open and happy 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:50.800 for her to do that. It wasn't like it was like, oh, 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:53.920 you're not allowed to go, you can't go. We were like, sure, 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:54.559 no problem. 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.520 Within weeks, she'd sold her home at a loss of 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:00.880 fifteen thousand dollars. She'd bought the property for one hundred 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:03.679 and eighty thousand dollars in nineteen ninety four, but let 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:07.480 it go for one hundred and sixty five thousand. It 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.839 seemed like she was in a hurry. When Sally's then 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:13.920 boyfriend Chris Laden was helping Marian to pack up her home, 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:17.280 she suddenly turned on him before she left. There are 0:12:17.280 --> 0:12:20.439 a couple of odd things that you've now in hindsight 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:24.960 realized seemed very odd, particularly one night he spotted her 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:26.440 filling up at the petrol bowser. 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:27.800 Yeah, what happened? 0:12:27.880 --> 0:12:32.920 So I was at Taife and my husband who we 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:36.120 were married at that time, but Chris was helping mum 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:38.199 pack up the house. So she'd already sold the house 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:40.680 and was packing her things and putting them in the 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:45.280 shipping container. And at about eight thirty that night, she 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:47.880 kind of panicked and said, oh, what's the time to Chris, 0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:50.719 and he said it's take thirty and she said, well 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:52.880 you need to go. You just drop what you're doing now. 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:54.520 I need you to go, and was quite abrupt. 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:57.720 And anyway, he came and got me at nine. 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:00.200 O'clock when I finished, which I typically didn't on this 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.800 night and we would always stop at the McDonald's local 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:05.319 on the way home just to grab something to. 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:08.120 Eat because it was always too late. And he picked 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:10.400 me up and he said, gotch your mother's rude. 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:12.480 And I said, why, what happened? And he said, she 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:13.880 just kicked me out. Like I was just in the 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:16.120 middle of packing up stuff in the box and she 0:13:16.240 --> 0:13:17.959 just said, just drop it. What's the time you need 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:21.560 to go and so he was quite annoyed, I would 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:23.199 say at that point, because he was there, it was 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:25.400 a kind gesture helping her. 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:29.000 And anyway we went. We stopped at the McDonalds. 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:30.920 And McDonald's is one of those McDonald's where they have 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.800 the drive through you can fill up your petrol as well, 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.120 so it's got the petrol station attached to it. And 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:37.800 we were sitting in there and I had my back 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:41.640 to the bowsers, and anyway, Chris, I was getting him 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.600 something extra to eat, and I stood up, and as 0:13:44.600 --> 0:13:46.800 I stood up, I gave him an open window to 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:49.640 look out to the bowsers and he said, Oh, your 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.400 mother's just pulled into the petrol bowser. And so I've 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:55.559 turned around and I could see her. She got out 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:57.880 of the car and she stood at the door and 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:00.280 I was waving, and I didn't know if she could 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.760 see me because I was inside in the restaurant. Anyway, 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:06.440 she just looked at me like a deer in head lights. 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:07.520 And there was. 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:11.800 A guy in the car and well again, like you know, 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:14.520 when you're at nighttime at the petrol station and the 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:17.920 lights are reflecting on the windscreen, it's really hard to see. 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:19.720 But he was quite tall, like I would say, his 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:23.280 head was nearly touching the roof, and he seemed quite 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:25.080 darker colored skin. 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:28.040 No one you'd recognize, not that I would know. 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:32.320 And anyway, so I'm standing there waving, and she got 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:34.120 back in the car and she drove off, but instead 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.520 of driving past me to get out onto the main road, 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.280 she drove around the back but got stuck and ended 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.920 up going through the drive through at McDonald's, and me, 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.200 being twenty three, raced over and looked at her and 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:46.800 pointed at her as she went through the drive throom 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:50.400 and went busted, thinking it was funny, Like I thought, Oh, 0:14:50.440 --> 0:14:51.800 she's got a new boyfriend and she doesn't want to 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:52.480 tell me about it. 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:53.760 Anyway. 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:55.400 The next day I said to her who was the 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.600 guy in the car, and she said, he's just a friend. 0:14:57.720 --> 0:14:59.640 I met him at the art center through a friend 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:01.840 of mutual friend, and he just wanted to take me 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:04.880 out for a drink before I go overseas. I thought 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.160 it was a bit odd. I was like, one, it's 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:09.880 a bit late to be going out. Two you don't drink, 0:15:10.360 --> 0:15:13.160 so not sure where you were going, and three. 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:14.240 Your behavior was a bit odd. 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:18.080 So the mystery man in the car has always been 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.400 a bit of a thing in the back of my head. 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:22.240 Who is he and why was he there? And why 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:23.000 did she panic? 0:15:23.360 --> 0:15:25.680 Because she didn't want obviously, I want us to see 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:27.720 why she kicked Chris out so quickly. 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:39.040 Marian's collection of valuable antiques and paintings were put into storage, 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:43.440 but no one knows where. Shortly before her big trip, 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.440 she helped to celebrate Sally's engagement to Chris. 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:49.320 It was really nice actually, because my brother came and 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:51.680 my dad came, and it was the first time in 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:54.520 our adult life that all four of us had actually 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:58.040 reunited and been back together. Her mum spent some really 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.080 nice time with Owen two and took him up to 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:01.920 see my grandparents, who he hadn't seen for a long 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:05.520 time at Caloundra, and it was a really special time 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:09.440 for him, men for mum. And Mum bought a cake 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:12.160 for the engagement party and she organized all that, and 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:14.920 she was quite excited for us that we were getting married. 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:18.560 And she actually the school that she was working at 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:23.200 had a beautiful chapel with all the rose facing inwards, 0:16:23.240 --> 0:16:26.560 which I really loved, and I asked her if we 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.240 could get married there, and she said only the old 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.160 boys are allowed to get married at the chapel, and 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:34.160 so she said, but let me ask. So she went 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:36.560 to the principal and said, can I ask one more 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:40.200 favor before I leave? And he said, anything for you, Marian, 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:43.120 And she said, well, Sally wants to get married in 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:46.280 the chapel and he said, no problem. So they organized 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.520 all our meetings and interviews with the priest, and Chris 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:52.560 and I got married there eighteen months later. But Mum 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.680 wasn't there, sadly, so it was a bit of a 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:56.160 tough day. 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.040 Well, you never assumed you'd never see her again. 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:02.160 Never, you know, for her to leave halfway through a 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:05.920 school year and up and just sell her house within 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:08.600 three weeks and get on a plane and not want anyone. 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:09.920 To come to the airport to see her off. 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:15.120 For her to leave, and then to contact us numerous 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:18.080 times while she's over there. That also says to me, 0:17:18.119 --> 0:17:20.359 if I was going to go missing, I'd get on 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:22.600 a plane. You'd never see me ever again. I wouldn't 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.680 be bothered to write postcards. I'd be out, I'd be gone. 0:17:26.040 --> 0:17:26.760 But the fact that she. 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.080 Took time to write letters, She took time to write cards, 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.480 she sent her sister birthday presents from over there that 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:35.320 to me is not someone that is wanting to go missing. 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:38.560 She also said in her postcards she was terribly concerned 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:42.200 about some stuff that she'd had in her storage that. 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:44.960 She needed me to take back. 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:48.080 To TSS because she'd held it at home because of 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:50.320 the safety of the product. So she had a set 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:53.800 of kitchen scales, and she had bought a set herself 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.080 with her own money, and the boys ruined it, and 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:58.960 she used to use it for math lessons. And she 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:02.639 had said to me in a letter and a postcard 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:05.720 making reference. And the last time I spoke to her 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.159 on the phone, all she was concerned about was this 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.040 set of kitchen scales that cost fifty dollars, and she 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:12.879 said to me, you know, you must get them. 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:13.479 Back to the school. 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:15.600 I took them home because I didn't want the boys 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:16.400 to ruin them again. 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:18.320 Those and the Russian dolls, and. 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.760 The Russian dolls and these little teddy bears. 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:24.720 Dear Salem Chris, Greetings from beautiful but very wet UK. 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:28.160 From her letters and postcards home to family and friends, 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:30.600 it seemed Marian was having a wonderful time. 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:34.040 I finally arrived in England after a most interesting visit 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:34.560 to the east. 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:38.080 On July thirty first, nineteen ninety seven, Sally and Chris 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:40.800 returned from a ski holiday in the Snowy Mountains to 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:44.160 find a voice message from Marion on their answering machine. 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:47.640 She'd heard of the deadly Threadbow landslide and was concerned 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:48.360 for their safety. 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:51.200 The landslide started at the edge of the Alpine Way 0:18:51.560 --> 0:18:55.920 before slamming into the Bimberdeen staff Lodge and the nineteen 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:57.040 ski workers in. 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.840 Chris and I had been skiing at Parish the day 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:05.240 before the Threadbow disaster happened, and when we got home 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:07.359 we'd driven down. So when we got home back to 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.080 the Gold Coast back in the days when we had 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.959 answering machines on our phone, and we got in and 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:17.240 there was the light was flashing and I pressed it 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:19.680 and it was Mum Hi, and it was the first 0:19:19.720 --> 0:19:24.520 time she'd rung me since she'd been away, and this 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:28.239 was the thirty first of July, and she said, oh, 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:31.520 we've just heard word over here about the Threadbow disaster. 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:35.320 What's happened at Threadbow. I was just worried for you 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:38.399 and Chris and making sure you're okay, I'll try you 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:40.760 again later. And I got really sad because I really 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:42.360 desperately wanted to talk to he because I just bought 0:19:42.359 --> 0:19:45.680 my wedding dress on the way home, literally the day before, on. 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:50.400 August the first, Marion called Sally again and. 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:53.199 She said she was at a payphone and she told me, 0:19:53.840 --> 0:19:56.840 I'm sitting here in Tunbridge Wells in the UK, and 0:19:56.880 --> 0:19:58.200 she said, I'm. 0:19:58.040 --> 0:19:59.040 Having a fabulous time. 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:02.000 I'm just having some SCons and tea with some little 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:04.440 old ladies that I've met and I'm having a really 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:06.159 nice time. But I just thought i'd touch base. I 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:08.679 wanted to make sure you and Chris were okay, and 0:20:08.720 --> 0:20:10.760 so we had a big chat and she asked me 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:13.960 about if I managed to get the things back to TSS, 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:18.040 which I had, and we talked for a bit about 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:20.040 what she was doing, and she said to me, I've 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:22.880 postponed my trip on the Orient Express because I'm having 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:26.800 such a lovely time here exploring everywhere, so I'll go 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:32.960 on that later. And then the phone kept dropping out, 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:34.440 so the money the phone. 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:36.200 Kept dropping out because it was a pay phone back 0:20:36.240 --> 0:20:38.440 in those days, unless you kept putting coins. 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:42.520 In correct was a voice saying well, just kept dropping out, 0:20:42.520 --> 0:20:44.600 and then she'd bring me back and she's, I've got 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:46.800